A Night of Desire

Clara was taken aback and quickly asked, "Sarah, what’s wrong?"

On the other end, Sarah Shelby seemed to sniffle before forcing a brighter tone. "Ahem, nothing’s wrong. Where are you?"

"I’m at home," Clara said. She could tell something was off, but she decided not to press the issue over the phone, figuring they could talk in person. "Where are you? Are you free to come over? I have something to tell you."

"Your Majesty has finally graced me with a summons, so of course I’m free. Just wait, I’m on my way."

Clara heard Sarah giggle through the phone, her voice returning to its usual playful tone. ’I must have imagined that sob in her voice just now,’ she thought.

After hanging up, Clara thought it over. ’Sarah shouldn’t have anything to be upset about, and even if she did, it wouldn’t be serious enough to make her cry. After all, with her personality, almost nothing can get her down unless it’s a huge deal.’

Meanwhile, Sarah Shelby hung up the phone, the forced smile vanishing from her face. She roughly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, sniffled hard, and tossed her phone into the storage bin beside her.

The sudden movement made her hiss in pain. Frowning, she rolled up her sleeve to look at the large bruise on her forearm, and fragmented images of what had just happened at the Shelby estate flashed through her mind:

Yvette Zimmerman, a venomous look on her face, had shrieked, "The Shelby Family has raised you for so many years; it’s time you did something for us in return! All we’re asking is for you to get married, and you have the gall to refuse?! Marrying into the Stratton Family to become their young mistress is the fortune of a lifetime..."

She had looked at Evan Shelby with pleading eyes, only for him to avoid her gaze, remaining silent.

Disappointed, she had turned to leave after her firm refusal, but Yvette Zimmerman had started cursing at her for being disrespectful before giving her a hard shove. Sarah lost her balance, stumbling back a few steps, and her forearm slammed hard into the sharp corner of a bookshelf.

Finally, she had spat out, "I’d rather die than marry him," and fled the Shelby estate...

Sarah Shelby pulled her sleeve down and closed her eyes. She knew that now that Yvette Zimmerman had decided to use her, she wouldn’t give up so easily.

For a moment, Sarah felt a wave of despair. But the worst of it wasn’t Yvette Zimmerman trying to force her into marriage, or even the verbal and physical abuse. The most soul-crushing part was Evan Shelby’s attitude.

Evan Shelby, the father who had always doted on her, was actually siding with Yvette Zimmerman, telling her to marry a man she’d never even met!

’So, that’s how it is. The deep father-daughter bond we shared for over twenty years was just a figment of my imagination. The love and affection he showered on me... that was all in my head, too!’

She remembered Evan Shelby telling her not long ago that she was a disappointment to him. Not to be outdone, she had retorted, "What a coincidence. You’ve disappointed me, too."

If she had said it partly out of spite back then, today, her disappointment in him was absolute.

She also remembered telling Clara just a short while ago how she was worried she would end up being used as a tool to advance the Shelby Family’s interests. She never thought she’d get her answer so soon.

’Perhaps, in his eyes, I’ve always just been a pawn to be sacrificed for the Shelby Family’s benefit.’

’No, what’s with the ’perhaps’? It’s not a guess, it’s a fact!’

’And now that this pawn has finally become useful, he’s casting me aside without a second thought!’

But she, Sarah Shelby, was no pushover. No one could force her to do something she didn’t want to do. Not even her own father.